{"nrhp_refnum":"09000257","name":"New York Telephone Company Building","other_names":["Barclay-Vesey Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"140 W. St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.71550543700005,"lon":-74.01249045999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-04-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 32-story steel-frame, brick-clad skyscraper at 140 West Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, built for the New York Telephone Company and also known as the Barclay-Vesey Building.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the first American Art Deco-style skyscraper and marks it under Criteria A and C. It was a hub for the communications industry, housing thousands of telephone circuits. Its design includes carved limestone ornament, a Guastavino-tiled arcade and a mural-decorated lobby.","narrative":"Rising thirty-two stories above five basement levels at 140 West Street, this steel-framed, brick-clad tower was built for the New York Telephone Company and occupies a full block in Lower Manhattan. A broad base climbs sixteen stories, with setbacks starting at the tenth, and a tower rotated forty-five degrees rises above it. Carved limestone and cast stone ornament, including vines, grapes, animals and figures, decorates the facades, and a Guastavino-tiled arcade runs along Vesey Street. Inside, a vaulted travertine and marble lobby carries twelve painted murals on the history of communication. The building is recognized as the first American Art Deco-style skyscraper and has long served as a hub for telephone and communication circuits. It stood just north of the World Trade Center and sustained serious damage on September 11, 2001, including shattered limestone and a smoke-damaged lobby. The lobby and executive offices were afterward restored, and the building remains an office building.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Modern Movement/Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as an office building. It was damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the lobby and executive offices were later restored. Some interiors have been altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.483543-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000257.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000257/5b266b2ee6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000257/5b266b2ee6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barclay-Vesey_Building_140_West_Street.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barclay-Vesey_Building_140_West_Street.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319788","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclay%E2%80%93Vesey_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1983213"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/new-york-telephone-company-building-09000257/"}